Small Steel 29er

Here's a nice winter sunset out of the front of my shop door....the second to the last business day of the year.
This little guy is going to a customer who I have built bikes for since 1991. He's got the idea to try a 29er and this one is steel. The bike will be set up with XTR and a Fox fork, similar to how I have my bike set up. I hope he likes the geometry and big wheels as much as I do.
I used a NOS Tange Prestige 'concept' seat tube , probably the best steel ever. The rest of the frame is True Temper OX and Dedaccai wishbone seatstays.
After many weeks of waiting I finally have some Salsa dropouts in stock again-always nice to work with and they are stainless as well. I routed the cables under the top tube, something I didn't do until recently. I think on a smaller frame it's a good thing and the bike isn't as noisy when the road gets really bumpy. This is the last frame of 2011. Happy new year !

Really large triathlon-TT frame

This rider is about 6'8" and he needed something stiff. The top and down tubes are 7005 US made Easton tubes. I'm hoping he'll really feel comfortable on this frame.

Merry X-mas from me and plastic Santa

I think ol' Santa should cut down on the booze-he's looking a little stiff.

Steel fork for a Bontrager road-lite

I think I build a fork or two just about every week. My Anvil fork jig makes it a real pleasure , which is actually remarkable as most framebuilders do not use the words "Fork" and "Pleasure" in the same sentence. -That said, these are different times than when I hated the process of building forks.........I'm glad for the change.
This rather crappy photo shows one of my very last pair of Campagnolo front dropouts. Why did I use them on this particular fork ? I just felt like it.

Shredding the gnar with retroshift

Behold, the retro shift. I guess after riding it on the trails here there's good attributes and maybe a little bit of funkyness. The shifters are simple and durable and very straightforward to use. My only complaint is trying to hit a low gear requires some added body english that I'm not super keen on-kind of an awkward move for a clutz like me. Appearantly it isn't too awkward for Erik Tonkin who sports a pair of these on his bike.
Behold, the gnar.....err....Monterey bay. I couldn't get a photo of the real gnar as I was too busy shredding.

Scandium road frame for eleven year old girl

She's not your average eleven year old-she trains like crazy and likes to ride fast. She rides on the velodrome and already has a track frame from me.
This 2 lb. 6 oz. frame is made for 650 wheels and has a 47 cm top tube. The seat tube is 39 cm c/t/c. If she grows out of it she has a little sister who will get a very nice hand-me-down.

Small scandium 'cross frame for NYC

I was told that this rider is pretty short, especially in the upper body. She is supposedly really tearing it up in the N.Y. 'cross series and plans to have this as her second bike. My hope is that after she rides it she might make it her first bike. Anyway, this isn't my decision-I'll just have to wait for a ride report.
Before I put all the guides on this frame tipped the scale at 2 lbs. 13 oz........getting down there for one of my race frames. The only way to lighten them further without weakening them would be to use an integrated style head tube and BB-30.....not on this customer's wish list. I'm sure a couple less ounces would not be super important for this rider.

Another team scandium 'cross frame

This team member really lagged on ordering this frame but here it is and it might even get raced before the season ends in Feb. The frame weighs 2 lb. 15 oz. , pretty light for a 'cross frame but not too light for what it will be subjected to.
Since the rider is well under 150 lb.s she will get one of my last 32 mm top tubes made in the USA. I got these tubes back in 2007 and use them sparingly.
I added the new drive-side chainstay gusset as this rider might be hopping logs occasionally.

Small steel road frame and fork for Berkeley

This frame is all of 3 lb. 5 oz. , not bad for steel. The fork is 1 lb. 6 oz. and will lose a few oz. when trimmed. I'm hoping that the rider will like the geometry. Small bikes like this are really tricky to build-much more difficult than really large bikes. Keeping the rider balanced while making the front end long enough so that there's not a ton of foot overlap on the front wheel can be a serious challenge.
The straight blade fork might look pretty racy but it can take a 700x28 Continental tire.
I got a little carried away with the bends but I think the look is nicer than it would have been if I had not bothered. I also think the sweeping bends might soften the ride a taste-not a bad thing on such a small frame.

Almost all the new stuff

If this frame had disc brakes it would be all the new stuff. It does have the new large head tube for the tapered steerer forks and BB-30 as well as the latest ( and possibly last) scandium.
Because the frame has an oversize tubeset the big head tube looks proper.
I put the chainstay re-enforcement on as this rider is definitely not a shrimp.

'Cross frame for Santa Rosa

With luck this frame and a selection of parts will be in a box and on its way up north on Wednesday. I'm just waiting on the fork and as you can see, the King gold bits are already installed on the fully prepped frame. I built some wheels and have selected some other stuff so that the build should be easy to complete once the frame has been delivered.

Level top tube road frame in steel

The rack is full again

There was a delay in getting these frames back from the heat treater and powdercoater as they both have been pretty busy as of late. Eight frames showed up today and I have been spending part of the day putting on decals. It may be the day before Thanksgiving but I'm not going home early-I would rather get this stuff done now and not have a Friday where I can't do some welding because of not finishing today's work.

Single speed 'cross frame for So-Cal.

With luck this frame will be all ready for the big Nor-Cal So-Cal showdown in mid January. This is a pretty big frame but it is very light being of 7005 aluminum. I am pretty happy that these stainless faced rear dropouts are fairly easy to get, unlike last year.
There's room for a fairly large tire and the mud shouldn't build up too badly.
After spending about 4-5 weeks on steel it is nice to switch to aluminum just to keep fresh. Next week I have to build a steel frame before I finish the three other frames in this batch.

Here's something you haven't seen in my shop.

Looks like I'm possibly building a frame or two for another lable. This frame is a Broakland 'Pipe bomb' ....at least it is my version of it. If the designer likes it I might be building more.
There's a lot of old GT in the look of this frame, kind of an urban fixed-gear for folks who like to do tricks and defy death on the east bay streets.
The frame is made to withstand serious beating and occasional unplanned stresses.
It is unlikely that someone like myself would ever really test this frame to it's limit but I'm sure it will happen as soon as it finds a home.

Retro-shift in da house

I'll bet you haven't seen these......downtube shifters grafted onto brake levers. Some really clever guy up in Portland is selling these cyclocross specific units. Think of it, less than half the price of the ones from the big companies and probably much more resistant to any kind of failure due to mud and water. I have not ridden them very far yet but I'll be trying them in the mud very soon...perhaps tomorrow. Go watch the vimeo on the retroshift to see it in action.

Big tire road frame and fork with Cantilever brakes

The future owner of this frame used to be a pro roadie. I'm wondering when he last had a steel frame and fork.....must have been a long time ago as virtually none of the bikes used by pros are steel any more, at least on the road.
The tubeset is fairly light but not delicate as the frame weighs in at 4 lbs. 2 oz. , a good weight for a bike that will see some bad roads.
While the frame has no provision for a rack, it is fully fitted with spots to anchor full fenders as this bike will see some wet weather.
Here's the unicrown fork , probably the most popular style that comes out of my shop. These blades look like standard 'cross unicrowns but they are a bit stouter and will be good on rough dirt.

Big tire road bike, hold the fenders again..

The owner of this frame will be commuting over the Golden Gate into S.F. on a daily basis but had the thought that having the big-tire option would be nice for taking dirt shortcuts and detours now and then.
This 3 lb. 13 oz. True Temper OX frame is pretty sporty for a big tire bike and will have a custom order Wound-Up carbon fork and Shimano long reach calipers , my default brake for this type of build.
It was a little tricky making the bendy stays conform to these lug-style dropouts but the result was nice. My supply line for my most favorite dropouts isn't returning my calls so I guess I'll have to try something new, maybe more of the type you see here.